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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has rejected India’s request to delay proceedings for Kubhushan Jadhav’s case until December and ordered India to submit a response by September 13, Attorney General (AG) Ashtar Ausaf Ali said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Ali said that the court’s registrar had informed Pakistan through its consulate in Netherlands of the development.

“The ICJ has written a letter to Pakistan informing us of their decision,” the attorney general said.

India had asked the ICJ to offer them time till December to file pleadings in the Jadhav case, however, “the court has dismissed their request,” the AG added.

“India had adopted the stance that the matter was one of life and death, but Pakistan had stated that the ICJ is not a court of appeals.”

The attorney general further pointed out that the world tribunal was supposed to decide on giving the convicted spy consular access. “The ICJ is supposed to conclude whether or not Jadhav can receive consular access, for which a time period of two to three months is more than enough to file a response.”

Sources privy to the information noted that Pakistan will submit its response to the ICJ in December, while the court proceedings will begin in January 2018.

In a hearing of the case on May 18, a 10-member bench at The Hague restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav, who India claims is a retired naval officer.

Jadhav case

The UN’s top court had announced its ruling on May 18 regarding an urgent bid by India to stop Pakistan from executing a death sentence for Jadhav, one of its nationals convicted of spying and subversive activities in Pakistan.

Rejecting Pakistan’s argument that the court did not have jurisdiction in the matter, the court reasoned it could hear the case because it involved, on the face of it, an alleged violation of one of the clauses of the Vienna Convention, which both Pakistan and India ascribe to and whose interpretation falls under its purview.

“[Meanwhile] Pakistan should take all measures to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed till the final decision of this court,” the court said at the time.

The court also said Pakistan should inform it of all measures taken in implementation of the order.